Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department centrally holds data on workforce capacity for allied health professions supporting prevention and community healthcare services in England by profession.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not centrally hold data on workforce capacity for allied health professions supporting prevention and community healthcare services in England by profession.
NHS England published monthly data drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the Human Resources system for the National Health Service, on the number of staff employed in the NHS in England, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
This information can be used to identify the number of individual allied health professionals employed but is not able to robustly identify the specific service or setting in which staff are delivering care.
The Government is committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether workforce modelling for community healthcare services separately identifies individual allied health professions, including dietitians.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) plan, commission, and oversee the provision of local National Health Services, including community health services, to meet their population’s needs.
The Government is committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
We know people are waiting too long for community health services. That is why, for the first time, we have set a clear target for systems to work to reduce long waits in NHS England’s Medium-Term Planning Framework.
By 2028/29 at least 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks, bringing community health services in line with targets for elective care.
In 2025, we published, for the first time, an overview of the core community health services, Standardising Community Health Services, that ICBs should consider when planning for their local populations to support improved commissioning and delivery of community health services, a vital part of Neighbourhood Health. Further guidance was published in February 2026, providing more detailed descriptions of the core components of community health services for ICBs.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential for a role for the voluntary sector in helping support the Probation Service during the period after release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We recognise the valuable role played by the thousands of voluntary sector organisations that work in partnership with prisons and the Probation Service to provide vital support to people serving their sentences in prison and on returning to the community.
We welcome the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations on how we can better harness the value the Third Sector can add to probation work, building even stronger partnerships to enable better targeting of resources and improve outcomes for offenders.
The Ministry of Justice and H M Prison and Probation Service are continuing to work with voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to define the role that they can play in the Probation Service of the future.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the participation of the voluntary sector to assist with the probation service.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We recognise the valuable role played by the thousands of voluntary sector organisations that work in partnership with prisons and the Probation Service to provide vital support to people serving their sentences in prison and on returning to the community.
We welcome the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations on how we can better harness the value the Third Sector can add to probation work, building even stronger partnerships to enable better targeting of resources and improve outcomes for offenders.
The Ministry of Justice and H M Prison and Probation Service are continuing to work with voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to define the role that they can play in the Probation Service of the future.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve SEND provision in mainstream schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has announced plans for special educational needs and disabilities reform, with further information available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving.
An inclusive education system for all children and young people requires a strong universal offer. We will introduce new National Inclusion Standards to guide schools on what effective, inclusive universal provision and evidence-based targeted provision looks like.
For those whose needs cannot be met through the universal offer alone, there will be additional layers of support (targeted, targeted plus and specialist). A duty will be placed on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan for any pupil receiving targeted or specialist support, developed together with parents and young people to ensure every professional understands their needs and how best to support them.
We have announced £1.6 billion for an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to support schools, colleges and early years settings to embed inclusive practice over the next three years. We will provide educators with a new landmark training package on inclusion, with an investment of over £200 million over three years. We have also announced a new £1.8 billion investment over three years to deliver expertise to all settings from Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists. We are consulting on our plans for reform and encourage the sharing of views through the ongoing consultation at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the age at which vocational and technical training begins on (a) pupil engagement at Key Stage 3 and (b) skills shortages in construction and technical trades.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are 46 key stage 4 (KS4) Technical Awards, which pupils can take alongside GCSEs. These qualifications cover broad sector areas such as health and social care, building and construction, and support the development of knowledge and practical skills. In 2024/25, 45% of students in state-funded schools took at least one Technical Award.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review emphasised maintaining stability to allow these qualifications to embed fully in the system and did not recommend introducing structured vocational pathways at ages 11 to 14, and we have no current plans to pilot such models. For pupils in KS4, we will review the current suite of Technical Awards from 2027 with a focus on their impact and progression to post-16 pathways.
This is because the Review concluded that in comparison to other jurisdictions, we have a reasonably broad and balanced curriculum to age 16, which offers all children an entitlement to a core set of knowledge. The department is maintaining the existing architecture of key stages, national assessments and qualifications, which international comparisons suggest have had a positive impact on attainment. New measures at key stage 3, including better sequenced content, a year 8 statutory reading test and improved use of diagnostic assessment, are designed to support engagement and progress without narrowing the curriculum prematurely. To prepare learners for a changing world, we are developing an oracy framework and embedding financial, media and digital literacy and climate and sustainability education into the relevant subjects.
The Review concluded that structured vocational pathways are most effective post‑16. The department is therefore reforming the 16 to 19 system through A levels, T Levels and new V Levels, alongside redesigned Level 2 pathways, ensuring clear, high quality routes into technical fields and helping address skills shortages, including in construction and the wider technical trades.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of introducing structured vocational education pathways for pupils aged 11 to 14, including in comparable education systems such as that operated by the Government of the Netherlands, in England; and whether she plans to pilot similar models in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are 46 key stage 4 (KS4) Technical Awards, which pupils can take alongside GCSEs. These qualifications cover broad sector areas such as health and social care, building and construction, and support the development of knowledge and practical skills. In 2024/25, 45% of students in state-funded schools took at least one Technical Award.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review emphasised maintaining stability to allow these qualifications to embed fully in the system and did not recommend introducing structured vocational pathways at ages 11 to 14, and we have no current plans to pilot such models. For pupils in KS4, we will review the current suite of Technical Awards from 2027 with a focus on their impact and progression to post-16 pathways.
This is because the Review concluded that in comparison to other jurisdictions, we have a reasonably broad and balanced curriculum to age 16, which offers all children an entitlement to a core set of knowledge. The department is maintaining the existing architecture of key stages, national assessments and qualifications, which international comparisons suggest have had a positive impact on attainment. New measures at key stage 3, including better sequenced content, a year 8 statutory reading test and improved use of diagnostic assessment, are designed to support engagement and progress without narrowing the curriculum prematurely. To prepare learners for a changing world, we are developing an oracy framework and embedding financial, media and digital literacy and climate and sustainability education into the relevant subjects.
The Review concluded that structured vocational pathways are most effective post‑16. The department is therefore reforming the 16 to 19 system through A levels, T Levels and new V Levels, alongside redesigned Level 2 pathways, ensuring clear, high quality routes into technical fields and helping address skills shortages, including in construction and the wider technical trades.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve levels of attainment among working class pupils.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Too many children are held back by their background. That is why, through the Opportunity Mission, we will break the link between background and future success.
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes the department’s plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience. Our ambition is that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap is halved. This equates to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
Additionally, we are driving standards through new RISE teams, a refreshed high-quality curriculum and assessment system and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers - as well as taking action to address barriers to learning.
Alongside this, around £3.2 billion is being provided in the 2026/27 financial year to state-funded schools in England through the pupil premium, to support disadvantaged pupils so they achieve and thrive in education.
'Giving every child the best start in life' sets out the immediate steps to deliver on our commitment to make early education and childcare more accessible and affordable. We have rolled out the expansion of government funded hours so that working parents can now access 30 hours per week from the term after their child turns nine months. We’ve also announced Best Start Family Hubs, backed by £500 million, and launched the Better Futures Fund, a new £500 million fund to break down barriers to opportunity for up to 200,000 vulnerable children and young people.
Finally, our Child Poverty Strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030. This includes the expansion of free school meals. Providing over half a million disadvantaged children with a free lunchtime meal will lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps is he taking to improve the availability of secure, well-lit, and gender-appropriate rest facilities for HGV drivers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Grant Scheme, the Government and industry are delivering up to £35.7 million of joint investment to upgrade truck stops in 30 counties across England, improving both safety and working conditions for drivers.
The scheme is supporting better welfare and rest facilities such as improved gender-appropriate toilets and showers, rest areas, and increased HGV parking capacity for all drivers.
This funding is also helping operators to deliver security improvements including enhanced CCTV coverage, perimeter fencing, improved lighting, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems and new and upgraded security barriers.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has considered piloting or introducing an exemption to childcare funding rules where a relative is a registered childminder meeting all regulatory requirements.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Parents are free to choose the childcare that is right for them and their children, and childminders are not prevented from caring for related children.
However, the restriction on funding relatives is set out in the Childcare Act 2006. Section 18(4) of this Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative.
Allowing childminders to receive funding for looking after related children would not be an effective use of public money and may have a negative impact on the viability of existing childcare businesses.
A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing childcare for a related child, but this would have to be from local authority funds independent of the dedicated schools grant.
Although childminders cannot receive entitlements funding for related children, flexibilities within staff to child ratios can be used to enable childminders who are caring for related children to avoid limiting the income they can earn.